Lost Marbles

Ever since we moved into our house, we have found and kept many keepsakes left over from the original owners. This started when we began finding bullets that the lady had taken to hiding in little places around the house , or saving and restoring original doors, re-using original bricks- things tlike that (we didn't keep the bullets).

But one of the most intruiging things has been the marbles. The previous owners had children that they would have raised in this house in the 50's or 60's. Two boys, I think. I've met one, now in his 60's. Since we moved in, we began finding little marbles anytime the earth in the back yard was disturbed and they seem to be marbles that these two kids must have played with in our back yard 50 years ago.

My current house project is building a brick patio in our back yard, which first requires me to dig out about 6 inches of hard clay off the top (double that depth after the soil has been tilled). I'm borrowing what is like a tractor without a seat from my father-in-law, and as I rototill the ground, I check for marbles. Yesterday I found 9 more!

I keep them in a jar and they are one of my favorite new things. It's strange, because I never played marbles (and I'm even sort of against them because it's like teaching little kids to gamble). But I think, for me, maybe why I'm so drawn to them is that they symbolize boyhood/childhood. And even more than that- since they are burried under several inches of dirt- they represent a lost childhood. Which is timely, due to the fact that, at the eve of my fatherhood, I find myself reflecting on my own childhood quite a bit.

I'm sort of putting someone else's childhood/history to rest while examining my own and while "paving" the way for my child's all at the same time. And that's very heavy for me.